This document summarizes a technical report analyzing the role of foreign and indigenous innovation in emerging economies like Brazil, India, and China. It finds that while globalization and foreign technology diffusion provide benefits, indigenous innovation is also critical for technological development and catching up. International technology transfers are not costless and may not be appropriate for developing countries. Successful emerging economies like China and India have emphasized both acquiring foreign technology through trade and FDI while also significantly increasing domestic R&D spending and innovation capabilities. The interaction between foreign and indigenous innovation is an important factor in these countries' rapid economic growth.
A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF TRANSPORT AND POWER INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT ON TH...IAEME Publication
UAE as an autonomous country got constituted during the year 1971 by joining
together seven different autonomous and independent emirates. Through meticulous
planning and farsightedness, the country has set a development trend which is unique
in the Arabian Peninsula as well as to the entire world. The wealth and richness of the
country can be mainly attributed to the inflow of petrol income coupled with the
farsightedness and vision of the founding fathers of the nation in deploying the income
towards proper avenues of investment. Ever since its formation, the country has been
giving core attention to the development of infrastructure in the form of
transportation, construction and power generation. Now the country is equipped with
world class infrastructure and is the focal place of attention of other countries of the
world. Since the prime source of revenue is the petrol income, the performance of
UAE economy fluctuates from time to time due to the high volatility in oil prices and
its demand globally. Hence, the country has started laying the foundation for a total
restructuring by focusing on the development of infrastructure and other diversified
portfolios in business so that the primary dependence on petrol could be reduced.
Since 1990’s the country has been investing heavily in building up infrastructure so as
to attract foreign capital for its development. Even though there occurred
uncertainties in petrol income during the last two decades, the country could manage
its GDP growth rate through development in infrastructure and other related
industries. The country has gained appreciable improvement in formation of gross
fixed capital through infrastructure development, which in fact acted as a cushion of
growth during periods of uncertainties caused by fluctuations in petrol price. This
study is an effort to find out the relationship between development of infrastructure
and its impact on the economic development of UAE by considering various elements
in infrastructure such as transportation, power generation and construction. From the
study, it is found that there exists strong relationship between the economic growth of
a country like UAE and its infrastructure development.
A collection came from many sources based on my curiosity - synthesis all of information together with my personal awareness of future crisis. After having heard that China took a major shared of Toulouse Airport - located in the south of France, and many development came across the continents in the same time of economic crisis in Europe and many parts of the world, this is what I curiosly taking my time seeing what was the past performances made by this country. Thanks to many people doing their hard work providing interesting report and articles that I've never forgot to credit to each text and images. Bonne Lecture!
Foreign direct investment environment and economic growthnakije.kida
Abstract: This paper examines the models of economic growth and the dynamic interaction between
models from the Solow Model to New Endogenous Models. Long-term relationship of these models
is noticed to have been related in terms of causality. Model comparisons were made to examine their
dynamics which is not as complex as reflected. Results that growth is led by endogenous or
exogenous factors are not verified to be absolute but relative. Results indicate that FDI affect the
economic growth in many developing countries, but there are also many cases (developed countries)
that show that economic growth has led to a long term increase of FDI flow. It is also verified that the
impact of FDI on the environment is relative, based on the fact that there are exogenous factors that
may affect the reduction of externalities. Causal link among FDI, economic growth and their impact
on the environment makes the endogenous models be analysed with the dynamics, through which is
shown best which is the “cause-consequence” factor, that causes gaps of concepts and practices in
economic growth and environmental concerns.
Brains abroad (McKinsey Quarterly Article) - Emerging markets can win in the ...Parth Tewari
A strategy for leveraging the talent and resources of emigrants is definitely no substitute for economic reforms that address the fundamental causes of the talent drain by promoting competition, encouraging entrepreneurs, raising
levels of investment capital, and lightening regulatory requirements in the home country. But a development strategy that, besides promoting all of these much-needed goals, encourages the participation of emigrants in the
economic development of their home countries can mitigate the effects of today’s brain drain. Instead of being unambiguous losers in the global war for talent, emerging markets may find that they can be winners after all.
A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF TRANSPORT AND POWER INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT ON TH...IAEME Publication
UAE as an autonomous country got constituted during the year 1971 by joining
together seven different autonomous and independent emirates. Through meticulous
planning and farsightedness, the country has set a development trend which is unique
in the Arabian Peninsula as well as to the entire world. The wealth and richness of the
country can be mainly attributed to the inflow of petrol income coupled with the
farsightedness and vision of the founding fathers of the nation in deploying the income
towards proper avenues of investment. Ever since its formation, the country has been
giving core attention to the development of infrastructure in the form of
transportation, construction and power generation. Now the country is equipped with
world class infrastructure and is the focal place of attention of other countries of the
world. Since the prime source of revenue is the petrol income, the performance of
UAE economy fluctuates from time to time due to the high volatility in oil prices and
its demand globally. Hence, the country has started laying the foundation for a total
restructuring by focusing on the development of infrastructure and other diversified
portfolios in business so that the primary dependence on petrol could be reduced.
Since 1990’s the country has been investing heavily in building up infrastructure so as
to attract foreign capital for its development. Even though there occurred
uncertainties in petrol income during the last two decades, the country could manage
its GDP growth rate through development in infrastructure and other related
industries. The country has gained appreciable improvement in formation of gross
fixed capital through infrastructure development, which in fact acted as a cushion of
growth during periods of uncertainties caused by fluctuations in petrol price. This
study is an effort to find out the relationship between development of infrastructure
and its impact on the economic development of UAE by considering various elements
in infrastructure such as transportation, power generation and construction. From the
study, it is found that there exists strong relationship between the economic growth of
a country like UAE and its infrastructure development.
A collection came from many sources based on my curiosity - synthesis all of information together with my personal awareness of future crisis. After having heard that China took a major shared of Toulouse Airport - located in the south of France, and many development came across the continents in the same time of economic crisis in Europe and many parts of the world, this is what I curiosly taking my time seeing what was the past performances made by this country. Thanks to many people doing their hard work providing interesting report and articles that I've never forgot to credit to each text and images. Bonne Lecture!
Foreign direct investment environment and economic growthnakije.kida
Abstract: This paper examines the models of economic growth and the dynamic interaction between
models from the Solow Model to New Endogenous Models. Long-term relationship of these models
is noticed to have been related in terms of causality. Model comparisons were made to examine their
dynamics which is not as complex as reflected. Results that growth is led by endogenous or
exogenous factors are not verified to be absolute but relative. Results indicate that FDI affect the
economic growth in many developing countries, but there are also many cases (developed countries)
that show that economic growth has led to a long term increase of FDI flow. It is also verified that the
impact of FDI on the environment is relative, based on the fact that there are exogenous factors that
may affect the reduction of externalities. Causal link among FDI, economic growth and their impact
on the environment makes the endogenous models be analysed with the dynamics, through which is
shown best which is the “cause-consequence” factor, that causes gaps of concepts and practices in
economic growth and environmental concerns.
Brains abroad (McKinsey Quarterly Article) - Emerging markets can win in the ...Parth Tewari
A strategy for leveraging the talent and resources of emigrants is definitely no substitute for economic reforms that address the fundamental causes of the talent drain by promoting competition, encouraging entrepreneurs, raising
levels of investment capital, and lightening regulatory requirements in the home country. But a development strategy that, besides promoting all of these much-needed goals, encourages the participation of emigrants in the
economic development of their home countries can mitigate the effects of today’s brain drain. Instead of being unambiguous losers in the global war for talent, emerging markets may find that they can be winners after all.
The economic landscape of the world is changing rapidly. The nations which were once categorized as developing are now swiftly emerging with eminent powers and are posing a threat to the already existing superpowers of the world. A superpower is a nation which has both the
capacity and the capability of projecting its dictating influence and power on any place all across the planet. Another definition suggests that a nation having a leading position in the global system in addition to the ability to dominate is a superpower.
Nigeria is an oil producing nation which have been relying heavily on oil revenue for its economic well being. Oil depletes and its price can crash making dependence on oil as a mono means for the country’s future futile. Information and communication technology (ICT) on the other hand has impacted the economic growth of various nations such as India. ICT seems to be a key factor in stimulating the development of a country’s productivity across most sectors of the economy and ensuring global competiveness and a move to a New Economy. This Paper examines if a causal relationship exists between ICT and economic wellbeing (GCI) and if ICT can offer a way forward for Nigeria to move from oil based to service and product based economy. The paper also conducts an empirical analysis to find out if oil producing nations experience better growth against ICT innovative nations using 10 countries. The results of the analysis support the believe that ICT led development and of the existence of a causal link between ICT and economic growth and non-existence of a causal link between oil production alone and economic development.
Global economics presentation. China'a role in the global economy. The presentation consists of Background,
GDP, Trade, Bad Publicity, Wages & Financial, and Economic Growth
This research deals with an insight and analysis of the economy projectification in a smaller country, here represented by Croatia. The study was inspired by similar research conducted in Germany, Island and Norway and it is based on similar but partly adapted methodology. The objective of this study is to measure level of economy projectification in a smaller country, and to provide relevant data related for the level of project work. The random sample of 250 companies, from both public and private sectors, was selected across nine sectors of the economy. A stratified random sampling was drawn and interviews were conducted via telephone, so as on-line survey. While analysing collected data and considering the objectives of this paper, only basic statistical analyses were applied for calculating averages and mean values. This study confirmed that projectification trends and figures in a smaller country are similar to those in larger or developed countries. During the period of last five years, the projectification level of the Croatian economy was increased from 27% (in 2013.) to33% (in 2018.). The results show significant difference in projectification among the different sectors of economy, so as changes and trends over the recent time period.
SPA 507 Issues in Malaysian Economy: FDI & Manufacturing SectorRadziah Adam
This is a compilation of resources for a guest lecture/discussion session for SPA 507 Issues in Malaysian Economy, in MPA programme, School of Social Science.
Fundusze i Programy Unii Europejskiej wspierające przedsiębiorstwa w perspekt...Małgorzata Sikora-Gaca
Zadaniem prezentowanej publikacji jest przybliżenie czytelnikom problematyki pozyskiwania oraz rozliczania, przez podmioty prowadzące działalność gospodarczą w Polsce, wsparcia współfinansowanego ze środków głównie Europejskiego Funduszu Rozwoju Regionalnego w perspektywie finansowej 2014-2020. Stanowi ona selektywne wprowadzenie do wyżej wymienionej tematyki, w możliwie syntetyczny i przystępny sposób, tak aby przekazywane treści były zrozumiałe w szczególności dla osób, które dotychczas nie miały doświadczenia z funduszami Unii Europejskiej. Monografia w znacznej części została oparta na analizie treści dokumentów źródłowych. Autorzy starali się również wykorzystać przy tworzeniu książki swoje praktyczne doświadczenia w zakresie pozyskiwania środków z funduszy Unii Europejskiej oraz zarządzania projektami, w tym ich rozliczania.
The economic landscape of the world is changing rapidly. The nations which were once categorized as developing are now swiftly emerging with eminent powers and are posing a threat to the already existing superpowers of the world. A superpower is a nation which has both the
capacity and the capability of projecting its dictating influence and power on any place all across the planet. Another definition suggests that a nation having a leading position in the global system in addition to the ability to dominate is a superpower.
Nigeria is an oil producing nation which have been relying heavily on oil revenue for its economic well being. Oil depletes and its price can crash making dependence on oil as a mono means for the country’s future futile. Information and communication technology (ICT) on the other hand has impacted the economic growth of various nations such as India. ICT seems to be a key factor in stimulating the development of a country’s productivity across most sectors of the economy and ensuring global competiveness and a move to a New Economy. This Paper examines if a causal relationship exists between ICT and economic wellbeing (GCI) and if ICT can offer a way forward for Nigeria to move from oil based to service and product based economy. The paper also conducts an empirical analysis to find out if oil producing nations experience better growth against ICT innovative nations using 10 countries. The results of the analysis support the believe that ICT led development and of the existence of a causal link between ICT and economic growth and non-existence of a causal link between oil production alone and economic development.
Global economics presentation. China'a role in the global economy. The presentation consists of Background,
GDP, Trade, Bad Publicity, Wages & Financial, and Economic Growth
This research deals with an insight and analysis of the economy projectification in a smaller country, here represented by Croatia. The study was inspired by similar research conducted in Germany, Island and Norway and it is based on similar but partly adapted methodology. The objective of this study is to measure level of economy projectification in a smaller country, and to provide relevant data related for the level of project work. The random sample of 250 companies, from both public and private sectors, was selected across nine sectors of the economy. A stratified random sampling was drawn and interviews were conducted via telephone, so as on-line survey. While analysing collected data and considering the objectives of this paper, only basic statistical analyses were applied for calculating averages and mean values. This study confirmed that projectification trends and figures in a smaller country are similar to those in larger or developed countries. During the period of last five years, the projectification level of the Croatian economy was increased from 27% (in 2013.) to33% (in 2018.). The results show significant difference in projectification among the different sectors of economy, so as changes and trends over the recent time period.
SPA 507 Issues in Malaysian Economy: FDI & Manufacturing SectorRadziah Adam
This is a compilation of resources for a guest lecture/discussion session for SPA 507 Issues in Malaysian Economy, in MPA programme, School of Social Science.
Fundusze i Programy Unii Europejskiej wspierające przedsiębiorstwa w perspekt...Małgorzata Sikora-Gaca
Zadaniem prezentowanej publikacji jest przybliżenie czytelnikom problematyki pozyskiwania oraz rozliczania, przez podmioty prowadzące działalność gospodarczą w Polsce, wsparcia współfinansowanego ze środków głównie Europejskiego Funduszu Rozwoju Regionalnego w perspektywie finansowej 2014-2020. Stanowi ona selektywne wprowadzenie do wyżej wymienionej tematyki, w możliwie syntetyczny i przystępny sposób, tak aby przekazywane treści były zrozumiałe w szczególności dla osób, które dotychczas nie miały doświadczenia z funduszami Unii Europejskiej. Monografia w znacznej części została oparta na analizie treści dokumentów źródłowych. Autorzy starali się również wykorzystać przy tworzeniu książki swoje praktyczne doświadczenia w zakresie pozyskiwania środków z funduszy Unii Europejskiej oraz zarządzania projektami, w tym ich rozliczania.
International Journal of Information, Business and Management,.docxnormanibarber20063
International Journal of Information, Business and Management, Vol. 7, No.3, 2015
ISSN 2076-9202
51
The impact of research and development (R&D) on economic growth: The
case of the MENA countries.
1
Lamia Ben Amor and
2
Naceur Ben Zina
1. Member and researcher at the unit of reasearch, economic and developpement at the University of
Economics and Management of Sfax, Tunisia.
2. Associate Professor of Economics at the Unit of Dynamic Economics and Environmental Research
(URDEE) at the University of Economics and Management of Sfax, Tunisia.
* Corresponding Author E-mail: [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to study the relationship between research and development (R & D) and
economic growth. We will try to enlighten, from a theoretical side, the importance of R&D as a critical
factor for recovery.
This empirical study is based on different estimation methods developed in the context of a static panel on
a sample of 15 countries over the period 1980-2009. The methods used are the GMM (Generalized
Method of Moments), the OLS (Ordinary Least Squares) and causality tests, a unit root applied to panel
data. The overall findings identify a positive and significant relationship.
JEL Codes: C33, D83, F43.
Keywords: R & D, Economic Growth, Static Panel Model.
1. INTRODUCTION
To cope with the increased globalization, competition from emerging economies and ever-changingneeds
of consumers, the economies of industrialized countries are increasingly relying on the activities of
research anddevelopment, which are essential to provide the firms with the competitive advantages
necessary for their competitiveness.
According to the OECD (2004), expenditure on research and development (R & D) conducted
International Journal of Information, Business and Management, Vol. 7, No.3, 2015
ISSN 2076-9202
52
inindustrialized countries (EU, U.S., Japan) increased from 396 billion euros in 1995 to more than680
billion in 2003. In the same way, some emerging economies seem to be determined also to increase their
technological capital. Let us takeChina as an example: by reference to OECD, its expenditure of R& D
expressed as a percentage of the GDP (gross domestic product) doubled during the period 1995 -2002.
Indeed, they went from 0.6% to 1.2%.
The key role of R & D in the competitiveness of firms led by industrialized countries to seekterritories
and more attractive partners to carry out their innovation strategies, including emergingmarkets, which
should increase their technological capital. R&D often implies a set of cumulativeprocesses of
inventions and innovations, skills and know-how. Through its horizontal and verticaldiversification of
goods and services, it is.
The past two decades have recorded significant improvement in the Nigerian financial markets. The banking sector
migrated from arm-chair of banking to a more sophisticated and globally competitive banking practices. The capital
market has also moved from the traditional trading system to automated trading system while more marketable
securities that are globally competitive are now traded in the Nigeria’s capital markets. The study examined the
relationship between financial innovations and the sustainable economic development in Nigeria. The study
examined ATM Banking, Web (Internet) Banking, POS Banking and Mobile Banking as proxies of financial
innovations and the GDP as the proxy for the nation’s economic growth and development. The study established that
a positive and significant relationship exists between all the variables and GDP with the exception of Mobile
Banking. The study also identified some risk issues that can mitigate the positive contributions of the financial
innovations to the sustainability of the Nigerian economy.
Foreign Aid and Economic Growth in the West African States: A Panel Frameworkinventionjournals
This paper examines the impact of economic variables namely, foreign direct investment (FDI), investment, export, foreign aid and broad money supply on economic growth, approximated by gross domestic product (GDP)using annual data covering a period 1981-2008 on a group of West African countries. The impact of variables on GDP is estimated using three panel estimation models: pooled model (pooled), fixed effects model (FEM) and random effects model (REM). We explore the hypothesis that foreign aid can promote growth in developing countries. We test this hypothesis using panel data series,while the findings of previous studies are generally mixed, our resultsindicate that foreign direct investment has purely positive effects on economic growth in West African countries
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Palestine last event orientationfvgnh .pptxRaedMohamed3
An EFL lesson about the current events in Palestine. It is intended to be for intermediate students who wish to increase their listening skills through a short lesson in power point.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Welcome to TechSoup New Member Orientation and Q&A (May 2024).pdfTechSoup
In this webinar you will learn how your organization can access TechSoup's wide variety of product discount and donation programs. From hardware to software, we'll give you a tour of the tools available to help your nonprofit with productivity, collaboration, financial management, donor tracking, security, and more.
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
The role of foreign technology and indigenous innovation
1. The Role of Foreign
Technology and
Indigenous Innovation in
Emerging Economies:
Technological Change
and Catching Up
Xiaolan Fu
Carlo Pietrobelli
Luc Soete
Inter-American
Development Bank
Institutional Capacity
and Finance Sector
TECHNICAL NOTES
No. IDB-TN-166
September 2010
2. The Role of Foreign Technology and
Indigenous Innovation in Emerging
Economies: Technological Change
and Catching Up
Xiaolan Fu
Carlo Pietrobelli
Luc Soete
Inter-American Development Bank
2010
4. Abstract*
This article explores in depth the role of indigenous and foreign innovation
efforts in technological change and catching up in emerging economies. It also
looks at the interaction between indigenous and foreign innovation. The article
presents original evidence and argues that, despite the potential offered by
globalisation and a liberal trade regime, the benefits of international technology
diffusion can only be delivered with parallel indigenous innovation efforts and
the presence of modern institutional and governance structures and conducive
innovation systems. This conclusion is compounded by the expected
inappropriateness of Northern technology for countries in the developing South,
which calls for greater efforts to develop indigenous innovation. In this sense,
indigenous and foreign innovation efforts are complementary.
JEL Codes: F23, O33.
Key words: indigenous innovation, technology transfer, technological
capabilities, technological change, emerging economies.
*
The authors thank participants at the Sanjaya Lall Programme for Technology and Management for
Development (SLPTMD) Oxford Conference (May 2008) and an anonymous referee for helpful and
constructive comments, and UNIDO for financial support. The authors are also Director (Fu) and
Senior Research Associates (Pietrobelli and Soete) of the SLPTMD, University of Oxford, UK. The
opinions expressed in the paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of their
respective organizations.
5. 2
I. Introduction
It is widely recognised that differences in productivity are a major source of cross-country
income variations and that technological change drives productivity growth. Technological
innovation is therefore a key element of industrialisation and catch-up in developing
countries. One of the controversies is whether the sources of technological change are
indigenous or based on foreign innovation efforts or a combination of the two, and if so,
which combination.
On one hand, innovation is costly, risky and path-dependent. Hence it is more
efficient for developing countries to simply acquire foreign technology created in developed
countries. In principle, if innovations were easy to diffuse and adopt regardless of their nature
and type, a technologically backward country could catch up rapidly by absorbing the most
advanced technologies (Romer, 1994; Grossman and Helpman, 1994; Eaton and Kortum,
1995). With the expectation to ―trade market for technology,‖ many developing countries
―raced to the bottom‖ to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) using various financial and
fiscal incentive schemes.
On the other hand, there is the view that technology diffusion and adoption is neither
costless nor unconditional. It relies on substantial and well-directed technological efforts
(Lall, 2001 and 2005) and on absorptive capacity (Cohen and Levinthal, 1989). Further,
technical change is often biased and foreign technologies developed in industrialised
countries may not be appropriate for the economic and social conditions of developing
countries (Atkinson and Stiglitz, 1969; Basu and Weil, 1998; Acemoglu, 2002). In addition,
it cannot be simplistically assumed that the private interests of multinational enterprises
(MNEs) coincide with the social interests of the host countries (Lall and Urata, 2003). The
available empirical evidence on the effects of indigenous or foreign innovation is mixed.
Studies largely fail to provide convincing evidence that there is a significant positive
technological transfer or spillover effect of FDI on local firms.1
Within this broad and ongoing debate, the role of indigenous innovation and its
diffusion/spillover effect in the catching-up process has not received the attention it deserves.
Many relevant questions remain unanswered. What drives technological change and catching
up in developing countries, particularly in middle-income countries? To what extent can
developing countries successfully build their own modern industries through technology
acquisition via imports and FDI? What are the roles of indigenous innovation and its
diffusion? What is the relationship between indigenous innovation and the acquisition of
foreign technology in an increasingly globalised world, and how does this interaction change
1
For surveys of the literature on spillovers from FDI see Görg and Strobl (2001), Blomström and
Kokko (1998) and Meyer (2004).
6. 3
to respond to the specific characteristics of a country? How does integration in global value
chains enable a developing country to access and learn from foreign technology? This
addresses these questions based on a series of new empirical studies on technology
acquisition through FDI and indigenous innovation in emerging economies.2
Impressively rapid economic growth in Brazil, India, and China in the past three
decades is changing the landscape of the world economy.3
These countries are quickly
catching up with the leading industrial countries, and this process is becoming a remarkable
economic force that is influencing the world economy. These three countries account for
about 40 percent of the total world population and 13 percent of total world income (in
2007), and most importantly, these countries’ incomes are rising at a speed similar to those of
Japan and Korea when their economies were taking off (World Bank, 2007). The emergence
of Brazil, India, and China has important implications for the world, not only in terms of
economic impact, but also in terms of their experiences in guiding and promoting the growth
process. These countries have opened up to international trade and investment, though to
different degrees and with different speed and strategies, while at the same time they have
put increasing emphasis on indigenous knowledge creation and innovation, though again to
different extents and with varying success. Experiences from these emerging economies may
provide valuable lessons for other developing countries with regards to industrial,
technology, and trade policies.
The remainder of this article proceeds as follows. Section II examines some stylised
facts about these emerging economies. Section III analyzes the possible benefits from
international technology transfer and the transmission channels. Section IV discusses the
importance of the appropriateness of technology for catch-up and the capacity of developing
countries to create new technology. Section V discusses the interactions between foreign
technology transfer and indigenous innovation. Section VI concludes with an evaluation of
the evidence and discusses policy implications for other developing countries struggling to
upgrade technology and catch up to the developed world.
II. Technology and Economic Take-off in Emerging Economies
The rise of Brazil, India, and China is changing the landscape of the world economy. For
instance, China’s average annual GDP growth rate in the past 30 years is 9.8 percent, more
than three times the average 3.0 percent annual growth rate of the world economy during the
same period. In 2007, the annual GDP growth rate was 13.0 percent in China, 9.1 percent in
India, and 5.4 percent in Brazil — all substantially higher than the world average growth rate
2
These studies are forthcoming in a Special Section of World Development edited by the authors of
the present paper.
3
South Africa and Russia are often included in this group. However, in this paper we focus on the two
largest Asian countries and on Brazil, on which new evidence has become available.
7. 4
in that year of 3.8 percent. In 2008, in spite of the worldwide economic crisis, these
economies continued to grow much faster that the world’s 1.7 percent average at 9.0 percent
in China, 6.1 percent in India, and 5.1 percent in Brazil.4
By 2007, China was ranked among
the four largest economies in the world in terms of total GDP. The pace and duration of
economic growth of these economies resembles Korea and Japan’s performance during the
three decades after 1960 (Figure 1). The combination of this fast growth and the large size of
these economies makes them a significant economic development experience with a global
impact (Freeman, 2005).
Figure 1. Growth Rates of Brazil, India, and China
Compared with Japan’s and Korea’s Take-off Years
Source: World Bank (2007)
Technological capabilities in these emerging economies (Lall, 1992) — a central
driver of technological upgrading — have also grown significantly, and in some industries
they are catching up with the industrialised countries. Since 2000, China and India have
experienced a rapid surge in patent applications. The number of patents that belong to so-
called Triadic Patent Families5
where the application was made by Chinese researchers
increased more than seven times from 2000 to 2007. For India, the number increased about
three times (Figure 2). China’s export market share of products that are intensively based on
research and development (R&D) increased to 13 percent from 3 percent from 2000 to 2008,
moving close to the 15 percent and 19 percent market shares held by the United States and
the European Union (15 countries), respectively. This illustrates the rapid structural change
and industry upgrading that is currently taking place in China (Table 1).
4
In 2009, China’s GDP grew at 8.7 percent, and India’s at 5.7 percent.
5
These are patents applied for/granted in the United States, Europe and Japan.
17.00
19.00
21.00
23.00
25.00
27.00
29.00
31.00
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46
Years
LogGDP(constant2000USD)
China(1979-
2005)
India(1980-
2005)
Brazil(1964-
2005)
SouthAfrica
(1980-
2005)
Japan(1960-
2005)
Korea(1965-
2005)
8. 5
Figure 2. Granted Patents Belonging to Triadic Patent Families
Source: OECD, STAN STructural ANalysis Database, 2010
Table 1. Export Market Share (percent): R&D-Intensive Industries
1995 2000 2005 2008
Japan 14.51 8.12 5.55 4.73
Korea 3.22 2.68 3.05 3.41
Mexico 1.56 2.02 1.74 1.92
United States 23.47 20.37 15.89 15.41
EU15 22.92 18.80 18.96 18.76
China 2.97 9.21 13.09
Russia 0.20 0.22 0.17
South Africa 0.10 0.12 0.10
Note: Five R&D-intensive industries are: aerospace, electronics,
instruments, office machines, and pharmaceutical. The figure is a
simple average of the share of the five industries.
Source: OECD, STAN STructural ANalysis Database, 2010
Of course, despite sharing common features such as their large size, these emerging
countries are very diverse in their factor endowments, economic structure, development
history and strategy. All of these countries have opened up to international trade and
investment. While Brazil mostly relied on its large domestic market (trade/GDP ratio was
27 percent in 2007), India relied much more on the international economy, with a trade/GDP
ratio of 46 percent in 2007, and China experienced a dramatic export-led growth path with a
trade/GDP ratio as high as 76 percent in 2007. These countries also significantly reduced
Triadic patent families
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Brazil
China
India
Russian
South Africa
9. 6
tariff barriers and opened up to imports of foreign goods. Over the 1990 to 2006 period, the
average weighted tariff rate was reduced to 7 percent from 27 percent in Brazil, to 5 percent
from 41 percent in China, and to 14 percent from 83 percent in India. They also opened up to
international direct investment, with China and Brazil enjoying average FDI/GDP ratios of
3.2 and 3.4 percent, respectively, over the period 2000 to 2005. While the figure in India was
lower than that in China and Brazil, at 0.9 percent, it has been increasing rapidly since 1991.
These countries have also spent significant and rising shares of GDP on royalty and licensing
fees for foreign technology acquisition: between 0.8 percent (India) and 2.6 percent (China).
They have sent many students abroad for education and introduced various policies to attract
overseas diasporas to return to their countries (Table 2).
On the other hand, China, India, and Brazil are putting great effort into building
indigenous technological capabilities. These three countries, together with the United States
and the Russian Federation, stand as the top five countries in the world in terms of number of
university enrolments in 2007 (Dahlman, 2010). Their expenditure on R&D has also
increased exponentially. In 2006, total R&D expenditure in China was greater than that of
Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, and was about a third of that in the European
Union. In terms of its gross R&D expenditure to GDP ratio, China is now moving close to
the EU average (Figure 3).
Source: World Bank (2010)
Note: Area of the bubbles shows the size of Gross R&D expenditure.
11
38
48 74
7
148
11
44
347
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 1 2 3 4
Thousandsofresearcherpermillionpeople
JapanUS
Germany
France
UK
China
Russia
India
Brazil
Figure 3. R&D efforts in selected countries, 2006
Spending on R&D as % of GDP
10. 7
Table 2. Acquisition of Foreign Knowledge: Brazil, China, and India
Brazil China India
Trade (percent of GDP)
1980 22 21 15
2007 27 76 46
Merchandise imports (percent of GDP)
1980 9.8 — 7.5
2007 9.6 29.8 18.4
Manufactured imports (percent of merchandise imports)
1980 41 — 39
2007 64 68 46
Average tariffs (percent)
1990–1992
Average simple tariff 25.1 42.9 81.8
Average weighted tariff 26.7 40.6 83.0
2006
Average simple tariff 12.3 8.9 17.0
Average weighted tariff 6.8 5.1 13.8
Average Gross FDI/GDP
2000–2005 3.4 3.2 0.9
Royalty and license fee payments (US$ million)
1990 54 0 72
2007 2,259 8,192 949
Percent of GDP 1.72 2.56 0.80
Tertiary Students Studying Abroad 2007 21,556 421,128 153,312
As percentage of students studying abroad 0.77 15.03 5.47
As percentage of tertiary students in the country 0.4 1.9 1.1
Source: Dahlman (2010)
III. International Technology Diffusion and Technological Upgrading in
Developing Countries
As discussed earlier, since innovation is costly, risky, and path-dependent, poor countries
may have a rationale to rely on foreign technology acquisition for technological
development. Foreign sources of technology account for a large part of productivity growth
in most countries. In fact, most innovation activities are largely concentrated in a few
developed countries: the United States, Japan, and a number of European countries.
11. 8
International technology diffusion is therefore an important condition for economic growth.
If foreign technologies are easy to diffuse and adopt, a technologically backward country can
catch up rapidly, even leapfrog through the acquisition and more rapid deployment of the
most advanced technologies (Soete, 1985; Romer, 1994; Grossman and Helpman, 1994;
Eaton and Kortum, 1995).
Technology is non-rival; the marginal costs for additional use are negligible.
Although frontier technology created through innovation enjoys rents, the public good nature
of knowledge suggests that it can generate positive externalities (or spillovers) to others who
are also exposed to this knowledge in various ways. However, although some of the
technologies can be codified, a large amount of technological knowledge is tacit. Therefore,
knowledge spillovers are geographically bounded (Jaffe, Trajtenberg, and Henderson, 1993)
because proximity is required to transfer tacit knowledge.
Technology can be diffused between firms and across regions and countries through
various transmission mechanisms (Pietrobelli, 1996), including: (i) movement of goods
through international trade; (ii) movement of capital through inward and outward foreign direct
investment (FDI and OFDI); (iii) movement of people through migration, travel, and foreign
education of students and workers; (iv) international research collaboration; (v) diffusion of
disembodied knowledge through media and internet; and (vi) integration into global value
chains to benefit from the foreign technology transferred within the supply chain. Some
knowledge is transferred intentionally from the knowledge owner to the recipient — and this
may spur a learning process — but a large proportion of knowledge spillover takes place as
unintended leakage. In recent years the mode of innovation is becoming more and more open
and is making good use of external resources. International knowledge diffusion can therefore
benefit firms at every stage of the innovation process. The growing technological
diversification of companies makes successful integration of new external knowledge into the
innovation process increasingly important. Such successful integration fosters further
innovation. The factors that also explain the accelerating trend of using external sources of
knowledge include, among other things, technological convergence, declining costs to acquire
external R&D inputs, and shortening product cycle times (Narula, 2003).
Foreign Direct Investment and Technology Transfer
Foreign direct investment as a bundle of technological and managerial knowledge, and
financial capital has been regarded as a major vehicle for the transfer of advanced foreign
technology to developing countries for a long time (Dunning, 1994; Lall, 2003).
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are regarded as the major driver of R&D in the world.
They are also likely to offer training to their employees, though unevenly depending on the
case or industry. MNEs are also found to have internal incentives to transfer technology
across borders to share technology between parent companies and subsidiaries (Markusen,
12. 9
2002). Therefore, it is expected that in the medium to long term, local firms will benefit from
MNE spillovers and linkages. The competition effect of FDI is also expected to push
inefficient firms out of the market and force other local firms to innovate to be competitive.
Technology transfer may take place within the foreign-investing firm through imported
machinery and equipment and through labour training. Horizontal technology spillovers may
occur from foreign investing firms to other firms in the same industry and/or the same region
through demonstration effects and the movement of trained labour from foreign to local firms
(Caves, 1974; Fosfuri, Motta, and Ronde, 2001). There may also be vertical technology
spillovers taking place between foreign and local suppliers and customers within the value
chain through forward and backward linkages (Javorcik, 2004; Pietrobelli and Rabellotti,
2007; Pietrobelli and Saliola, 2008).
Some empirical research shows that technology transferred through FDI has positive
effects on developing countries (Kokko, Tansini, and Zejan, 1996; Eden et al., 1997;
Buckley, Clegg, and Wang, 2002). However, some of these studies suffer from limitations:
they are carried out at the industry level and are likely to be affected by the endogeneity
between industry productivity and industry level FDI intensity, and they fail to control for
firm-level heterogeneity. An exception is the paper by Javorcik (2004), who investigated the
vertical spillovers from FDI through the supply chain using firm-level panel data from
Lithuania and found significant positive spillover effects from backward linkages.
Despite the possible benefits of technology transfer and FDI spillover, there may also
be significant negative effects on technological upgrading in domestic firms for a variety of
reasons. Foreign direct investment may negatively affect the competitiveness of domestic
firms and potentially crowd them out of the market (Aitken and Harrison, 1999; Hu and
Jefferson, 2002). Also, strong competition from foreign subsidiaries may reduce R&D efforts
by local firms (OECD, 2002). Moreover, foreign subsidiaries may remain as enclaves in a
developing country with a lack of effective linkages to the local economy.
Many developing countries have established export processing zones to attract FDI.
Research found that foreign firms located in these zones were mostly engaged in process
trade based on cheap unskilled or semi-skilled labour available in the host country and did
not generate significant linkages with the local economy (Johansson, 1994). Fu (2004) found
that processing trade-oriented FDI in coastal regions of China generated limited linkages and
weak spillovers across regions, which exacerbated the existing regional inequalities in China.
Using a large firm-level panel data set from China, Fu and Gong (forthcoming) found
depressive effects of foreign R&D labs on local firms in China. This is likely due to the
strong competition for talent, resources, and markets between foreign and indigenous firms,
and to the limited linkages between foreign and local firms. Most of the foreign R&D labs
indicated that they had no intention of collaborating with local firms, universities, or research
13. 10
institutions because of concerns about protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) (Zhou,
2006).
FDI Is Not an Unalloyed Blessing
Foreign direct investment is not an unalloyed blessing for technology transfer in developing
countries. For an effective technology transfer process, many necessary pre-conditions must
be met. First, trade policies. It is argued that openness facilitates linkages, directs resources to
the ―right‖ sectors, and creates a competitive and dynamic environment (Balasubramanyam,
Salisu, and Sapsford, 1996). Heavy restrictions on foreign investors and import substitution
policies do not provide incentives to foreign affiliates for technology transfer (Aitken and
Harrison, 1999). Second, legal and regulatory policies, especially those related to IPR, are
important. Foreign firms will not bring core technology into their subsidiaries in developing
countries with weak IPR protection. They also have little incentive to invest in R&D and
innovate in an environment with weak IPR protection. Third, there need to be sufficient
linkages between foreign and local firms to make effective technology transfer possible. In
the past, in China joint venture has often been a condition of FDI inflows. China and Brazil
have both negotiated export and local content requirements for FDI in certain industries, such
as the automobile industry, to create linkages between foreign and local firms. They have
also imposed training requirements on FDI in some cases (e.g., Motorola in China). Fourth,
different characteristics of FDI benefit technology transfer to a different extent. For example,
we expect that investments made by R&D-intensive multinational enterprises from R&D
active countries will - all else being equal - transfer more technology. Technological gaps
between foreign and local firms also matter. The relationship between the strength of
spillovers and the technology gap follows an inverted-U shape. Spillovers are found to be
present when the technology gaps are moderate and when they are much larger (Kokko,
Tansini, and Zejan, 1996; Meyer, 2004). Finally, the most necessary condition for effective
technology transfer is sufficient absorptive capacity, which we discuss below.
Fu and Gong (forthcoming) contribute to this debate in a new and original fashion.
They explore the sources and drivers of technology upgrading in China’s recent wave of
science and technology development using a manufacturing firm-level panel data-set for
2001–2005. They decompose total factor productivity growth into technical change and
efficiency improvement and examine the drivers of these changes. Their results suggest that
FDI has served as a vehicle transferring advanced foreign technology from global reservoirs
of knowledge. This improves static technological capabilities through imported machines and
equipment. However, R&D activities of foreign firms appear to exert a significant negative
effect on technical change for local firms. Instead, it is collective indigenous innovation that
contributes to the dynamic technological capabilities of local firms and pushes forward the
technological frontier.
14. 11
Firm-level evidence from India further supports this hypothesis. Using unbalanced
panel data from 1,843 Indian manufacturing firms operating during the period 1994–2005,
Sasidharan and Kathuria (forthcoming) examine the relationship between FDI and domestic
firms’ R&D in the post-liberalisation regime. In most regression specifications, they find that
the foreign equity participation acts as a disincentive for investment in R&D. Foreign
presence has a positive effect on the R&D intensity of only new domestic firms, which were
incorporated after 1985, during the newly liberalised regime.
Technology spillovers from foreign direct investment may also take place along the
spatial/regional dimension. Although knowledge is a non-rival public production asset, which
can generate positive externalities or spillovers to others (Nelson, 1959; Griliches, 1979),
knowledge spillovers are geographically localised (Jaffe, Trajtenberg, and Henderson, 1993;
Audretsch and Feldman, 1996; Audretsch, 1998), and there may be geographic boundaries to
information flow or knowledge spillover among the firms in an industry (Marshall, 1920;
Krugman, 1991). Social bonds that foster trust and frequent face-to-face contacts may
facilitate knowledge and information flow among agents located within the same area
(Breschi and Lissoni, 2001). This spatially bound knowledge spillover allows companies
operating nearby important knowledge sources to introduce innovations at a faster rate than
rival firms located elsewhere.
Using product innovation information for nearly 40,000 Chinese firms in high
technology industries over the period 2000–2005, Chen, Li, and Shapiro (2008) investigate
the impact of FDI on the product innovation activity of Chinese firms. They find that in
locations with a strong clustering of innovative foreign firms, local firms benefit from
knowledge spillover and are themselves more likely to introduce product innovations.
However, this does not occur in locations where foreign concentration is measured not by
innovations but by employment or capital. After controlling for firm- and location-level
effects, no general evidence of industry-level spillovers from FDI in the high-technology
industries emerges from their analysis. This is consistent with the findings of Fu and Gong
(forthcoming) and Sasidharan and Kathuria (forthcoming). Only the clustering of innovation
activities by foreign firms has a knowledge spillover impact on local firms.
Imports and Technology Transfer
Importing machinery and equipment is another important channel for foreign technology
acquisition. Cross-country studies on bilateral import data suggest imports are an important
channel for countries to acquire advanced technology and enhance competitiveness (Coe and
Helpman, 1995; Fagerberg, 1994; Freeman and Soete, 1997). Note, however, that the
technology is embedded in the machinery and equipment. Products produced using these
imported machines are probably of higher quality, but this does not mean that developing
15. 12
countries necessarily master the technology of designing and producing those advanced
machines. Substantial technological learning and reverse engineering are required to grasp
the technologies embedded in the imported machinery.
Li (forthcoming) empirically investigates the effect of three types of investment in
acquiring technological knowledge (in-house R&D, importing foreign technology, and
purchasing domestic technology) on the innovation output of Chinese domestic firms in high-
tech industries based on a data set of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC),
China Statistics Yearbook on High Technology Industry, constructed from a panel of 21
four-digit high-tech sectors over the period 1995–2004.
The results show that investing in foreign technology alone does not enhance
innovation in domestic firms, unless it is coupled with an industry’s own in-house R&D
effort. On the contrary, domestic technology purchases alone are found to contribute to
innovation, suggesting that domestic firms can absorb indigenous technology much more
easily.
Internationalisation of R&D and Technology Transfer
Internationalisation of R&D activities by multinational enterprises has been a major trend in
recent years (UNCTAD, 2006). Many developing and developed countries introduced
various selective policies to attract R&D-related FDI, with the hope that such investments
would contribute to building technological capabilities in the host country (Lall, 1992). The
evidence on these effects is not clear-cut yet, but Franco, Ray, and Ray (forthcoming)
provide original evidence from a comparative study of the innovation practices of
multinational affiliates in Brazil and India. Their paper seeks to identify the innovation
practices of multinational enterprises in these emerging economies by analysing their
technological asset-seeking patterns. Although both countries have similarities in location
advantages (large internal markets and abundance of natural resources), multinational
affiliates appear to follow significant differences within and across countries in terms of their
innovation-oriented strategies. While MNEs in Brazil tend to stand-alone, focusing on one
specific kind of technological asset-seeking strategy (licensing, physical capital, or skilled
human resources), MNEs in India have adopted a more integrated approach, using
complementary innovation practices and combining different kinds of local and foreign
knowledge to leverage innovative capabilities. The results suggest that MNEs have different
levels of involvement with local productive and innovation systems in Brazil and India. Such
heterogeneity in technological assets-seeking behaviour by MNEs combined with different
country competencies in attracting knowledge-intensive foreign investments has created
different opportunities for these countries to transfer technology and enter global value
chains (GVCs).
16. 13
In China, innovation practices of MNEs have mostly been stand-alone in the three
decades since the reforms. Foreign R&D centres are reported to have limited interest in
sharing knowledge with domestic firms and R&D labs (Chang et al., 2006; Zhou, 2006). This
may be explained by the strict intellectual property rights protection of these high-end MNEs
against the indigenous firms. Consistently, Fu and Gong (forthcoming) found that R&D
activities of foreign investment firms at the industry level exert a negative spillover effect on
technical change of indigenous firms. Foreign R&D activities may well intensify competition
for the limited domestic talent pool (Chang et al., 2006) and crowd out indigenous firms from
local labour, resources, and product markets.
Integration Into Global Value Chain and Technology Transfer
International knowledge and innovation exchange and collaboration, through for example
inter-firm and intra-firm networks and GVCs, has a significant impact on the innovation and
technology upgrading of those firms that successfully integrate into the GVC. In developing
countries exploiting this potential source of knowledge and learning is especially important
given that new frontier innovation is rarely created and the bulk of knowledge and
technology needs to be imported. For firms in developing countries, integration into GVCs
does not only represent a new market for their products, but it also plays a growing and
crucial role in accessing knowledge and enhancing learning and innovation. However, the
literature has not yet clearly settled how innovation systems and GVCs interact, and how this
interaction is likely to affect enterprise learning.
Pietrobelli and Rabellotti (forthcoming) argue that the different characteristics of the
value chains have an impact on the mechanisms of learning in the chain. The learning
mechanisms can be very different in the various forms of governance the chain may have:
they can be the result of pressure to accomplish international standards or they can be
facilitated by direct involvement of the chain leaders when the competence of suppliers is
low and the risk of unsatisfactory compliance is very high. When the competencies among
actors in the chain are complementary, the learning mechanism is mutual and based on
intense face-to-face interactions. Further, as innovation systems open up to foreign
knowledge, the relationship between GVCs and such systems turns non-linear and
endogenous, with each mutually affecting the other. The authors expect that a well-structured
and efficient innovation system may help to reduce the complexity of transactions, and
therefore make transactions based on arms’ length or on relational forms of GVC governance
possible. In other words, the risk of falling into a captive relationship, or even of being
acquired by a leader, diminishes with a stronger innovation system. The system of
organisations in charge of Metrology, Standards, Testing, and Quality (MSTQ) plays a
central role in this interaction, and may affect the convenience of different forms of
governance for learning and innovation by firms in developing countries.
17. 14
IV. Indigenous Innovations, Appropriate Technology, and Catching-up
Despite the possible benefits of international technology transfer and the prospect of income
convergence among countries brought about by this technology diffusion, empirical evidence
on the gains from international knowledge spillover is mixed.6
Cross-country studies
observed increasing income inequalities between rich and poor countries and the
marginalisation of the poorest African countries. One of the explanations of these income
divergences is that foreign technology may be inappropriate for the local socio-economic and
technical conditions since technological change is a localised learning-by-doing process
(Atkinson and Stiglitz, 1969). All this points to the importance of indigenous innovation
efforts for technology upgrading, and catching up in particular.
There are different methods and technologies for production, and different
technologies are specific to particular combinations of inputs (Basu and Weil, 1998). For a
particular country, appropriate technology is ―a technology tailored to fit the psychosocial
and biophysical context prevailing in a particular location and period‖ (Willoughby, 1990:
43; on this see also Stewart, 1983). Foreign technology may not fit the specific socio-
economic and technical context prevailing in the country receiving the technology.
Moreover, because of the innovator’s incentive to maximise returns on their innovation,
technical change will be biased to make optimal use of the conditions and factor supplies in
the country where the technology is developed (Acemoglu, 2002). Many developing
countries use technologies developed in the North, but the factor endowments in the South
are significantly different. Therefore, these advanced technologies, no matter whether
imported or transferred through FDI, will be inappropriate to the conditions in the South, and
hence less productive (Acemoglu and Zilibotti, 1999; Acemoglu, 2002). The direction of
technical change and therefore the inappropriateness of the foreign technology used in the
South provide a powerful explanation of the increasing income gap across countries. This
issue is especially important for the middle-income countries trying to catch up. Although
imported technology may contribute to economic growth, the South using inappropriate
technology will grow at a lower rate than the North, and the income gap will persist or even
rise.
Fu and Gong (forthcoming) extend the existing literature to the industry level and
argue that, in a country that has abundant endowments of unskilled and semi-skilled labour,
foreign technology may be less appropriate for the labour-intensive low-technology sector
than indigenous technology. The appropriateness of foreign technology may increase as the
6
Görg and Strobl (2001), Blomström and Kokko (1998), and Meyer (2004) are excellent surveys of
the literature on spillovers from FDI.
18. 15
technology-intensity of sectors rises. Since developing countries possess abundant unskilled
and semi-skilled labour, indigenous technology will be biased toward those skill levels. In
other words, technologies created in labour-abundant countries may augment unskilled
labour. In low-technology industries that use unskilled labour intensively, labour-augmenting
indigenous technology will be more efficient than foreign technology. In contrast, foreign
technology from industrial countries will augment skilled labour, and it will be more efficient
than indigenous technology in the technology-intensive sector that uses skilled labour
intensively.
Moreover, middle-income countries have accumulated a pool of knowledge and
skills, and their factor endowments have become different from those of the least developing
countries and of the industrialised countries. Therefore, the large middle-income economies
are more likely to generate ―intermediate‖ innovations with medium-level technology
intensity than smaller economies with the same degree of capital scarcity (Findlay, 1978).
These middle-income countries can reap the gains from investment in such technologies by
selling patents, obtaining royalty payments, or investing in smaller and less advanced
developing countries (Perez and Soete, 1988). Given the disparities in financial and human
capital across different regional or economic social groups in these large middle-income
countries, Fu and Gong (forthcoming) expect that such intermediate technology will be
generated by the relative skill and capital-rich group of firms in these economies. Using
empirical evidence from a recent Chinese manufacturing firm-level panel data set for 2001–
2005, they show that local firms, especially private and shareholding companies, dominate
the technological frontier in the low- and medium-technology industries. Indigenous
innovation and its diffusion are the driving forces of the dynamic technological capabilities
building in the indigenous sector. Instead, foreign firms dominate the high-technology
industry. Their study suggests a ―two-leg forward‖ strategy for developing countries (Rifkin,
1975).7
V. Foreign Technology Transfer and Indigenous Innovation:
Complements or Substitutes
What is the relationship between foreign technology transfer and indigenous innovation?
Should a developing country rely solely on foreign technology because innovation is costly,
risky, and path-dependent, or completely depend on indigenous innovation since foreign
technologies do not fit the local socio-economic and technical context and they will never be
able to create new advanced technology? Or should they pursue both strategies with different
7
This conclusion is also supported by other studies that show how firms have little difficulty in
absorbing technological knowledge purchased domestically (Li, forthcoming).
19. 16
emphasis but at different development stages and in different industries, as suggested by
Aghion and Howitt (2005)?
As discussed earlier, several conditions need to be met for technology transfer to be
effective in developing countries. A crucial condition is the level of absorptive capacity.
Technology transfer can be partial because of the costs and variations in capacity to adopt
new technology. The benefits from international knowledge transfer are hence subject to the
existence of adequate absorptive capacity of the local firms and organisations — that is the
ability of an organisation to identify, assimilate, and exploit knowledge from its surrounding
environment (Cohen and Levinthal, 1989; Girma, 2005). In turn, absorptive capacity depends
on the human capital and R&D expenditures of the receiving country or organisation. Cross-
country studies find that there is a minimum necessary threshold level of human capital
(Eaton and Kortum, 1995; Xu, 2000), and smaller firm-size or a lower share of skilled
workers may hinder absorptive capacity (Girma, 2005). Another important component of
absorptive capacity is the R&D activities carried out by local firms, which play the dual role
of creating knowledge and promoting learning and absorptive capacity (Aghion and Howitt,
1998; Griffith, Redding, and Reenen, 2004). R&D activities in local universities and research
institutions also importantly contribute to a region’s (or a country’s) absorptive capacity. In
sum, there are multiple avenues whereby indigenous R&D is necessary to obtain greater
gains from foreign technology transfer. Li (forthcoming) and Fu (2008) both support this
hypothesis based on experiences from China. Foreign technology will generate technological
change and upgrading for local firms only insofar as sufficient indigenous R&D activities
and human capital are present.
On the other hand, would openness to FDI — and the ensuing foreign technology
transfer — crowd out local R&D? Sasidharan and Kathuria (forthcoming) address this major
research question and examine the relationship between FDI and the R&D by domestic firms
in the post-liberalisation regime in India. They find that foreign equity participation acts as a
disincentive for investment in R&D in most cases except new local firms. This is consistent
with Lokshin, Gils, and Bauer (2008) who suggest that in Europe, internal and external R&D
are complementary, and that institutional and governance structures play a significant role in
this process. Thus, it may well be that in India the firms that evolved during the liberalisation
regime and have modern institutional and governance structures are more likely to effectively
integrate the benefits of domestic and foreign innovation efforts.
20. 17
VI. Conclusions
This article explores in depth the role of indigenous and foreign innovation efforts in
technological change and catching up in emerging economies on the basis of a series of new
empirical studies.8
It also looks at the interaction between indigenous and foreign innovation.
The evidence suggests that, despite the potential offered by globalisation and a liberal trade
regime, the benefits of international technology diffusion can only be delivered with parallel
indigenous innovation efforts (Li, forthcoming; Fu, 2008) and the presence of modern
institutional and governance structures and a conducive innovation system (Sasidharan and
Kathuria, forthcoming; Pietrobelli and Rabellotti, forthcoming). In this sense, indigenous and
foreign innovation efforts are complementary. Without proactive indigenous innovation
efforts, foreign technology remains only static technology embedded in imported machines
that will never turn into real indigenous technological capability. This conclusion is
compounded by the expected inappropriateness of Northern technology for countries in the
developing South, which calls for greater efforts to develop indigenous innovation crucial for
technological change and catch up, especially in middle-income countries (Fu and Gong,
forthcoming). Thus, indigenous and foreign innovation efforts need to be complementary for
several reasons that are self-reinforcing.
First, technology diffusion and adoption is not costless and unconditional. The speed
of diffusion and adoption, and thereby of building technological capabilities, depends on a
firms’ absorptive capacity and its complementary assets. Empirical evidence from emerging
economies illustrates this (Fu, 2008; Li, forthcoming). Second, only if local innovation
capacity is available will multinational enterprises adopt a more integrated innovation
practice, with greater linkages to the local economy and thereby greater opportunities for
knowledge transfer (Franco, Ray, and Ray, forthcoming). Third, greater use of external
knowledge is accompanied by a parallel decrease in internal R&D departments (Chesbrough,
2003; Howells, James, and Malik, 2004), especially in research-intensive industries (Bönte,
2003). Recent studies could not support the hypothesis of positive spillover effects from
R&D activities of MNEs on the innovation and technical change of local firms because of
significant disincentives for local firms and crowding out of local R&D (Fu and Gong,
forthcoming). Fourth, the inappropriateness of foreign technology in these emerging markets
helps explain the poor statistical significance and even the negative effects of FDI spillover.
As Lall (2003) suggests, the higher a country moves up the industrial ladder, the more
important local capabilities and innovation are. While FDI can facilitate the development of
basic operational capabilities, it may be a less efficient means of deepening capabilities.
Collective indigenous innovation efforts are found to be a major driver of indigenous
technical change (Fu and Gong, forthcoming).
8
Forthcoming in a Special Section of World Development edited by the authors of the present paper.
21. 18
Admittedly, developing countries face a dilemma of resource constraints to meet the
high investment costs and high-risk challenges of innovation (Erdilek, 1984; Hoekman,
Maskus and Saggi, 2004). The North-South technology gap in several industries remains
remarkably persistent. Experiences from the emerging economies suggest that, to maximise
the benefits of innovation and accelerate catch up, the explicit and well-focused
encouragement of indigenous innovation and acquisitions of foreign knowledge must work in
parallel (Fu and Gong, forthcoming). Neither autonomous innovations nor FDI-reliant
strategies are successful independently (Lall, 2003; Pietrobelli, 2000). Relying solely on one
would not be optimal for technological capability development and catching up. The Chinese
model (and to a lesser degree also the Indian and Brazilian models) of walking on two legs
proposes a strategy to maximise the benefits for developing countries (Rifkin, 1975). How to
select and shape the best combinations at different stages of development and for different
countries and industries is a question of utmost relevance for future research. Fu and Gong
(forthcoming) suggest that there are numerous and multi-tier choices of technology rather
than the simple bi-dimensional North-South divide. Technologies developed in labour-rich
emerging economies will be more appropriate for the factor endowments mix in other
populous developing countries; technologies created in land/resource-rich emerging
economies will be more appropriate for other land/resource abundant countries. Technologies
for similar emerging economies will also be easier to diffuse and local firms will absorb them
more effectively. On this basis, South-South trade and FDI will represent effective vehicles
for the diffusion of these technologies, and policies should follow suit consistently. In sum,
the encouragement of indigenous R&D and innovation activities remains an indispensable
centrepiece of an innovation strategy targeting the assimilation and adaptation of foreign
technology and the acceleration of technological learning and of building capabilities.
22. 19
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